Editing Battle of Iwo Jima (section)

===Action on the right flank===
The rightmost landing area was dominated by Japanese fortifications located at "the Quarry". The 25th Marine Regiment conducted a two-pronged attack to neutralize this position. 2nd Lieutenant Benjamin Roselle, part of a ground team directing naval gunfire, described the following experience:

{{blockquote|Within a minute a mortar shell exploded among the group&nbsp;... his left foot and ankle hung from his leg, held on by a ribbon of flesh&nbsp;... Within minutes a second round landed near him and fragments tore into his other leg. For nearly an hour he wondered where the next shell would land. He was soon to find out as a shell burst almost on top of him, wounding him for the third time in the shoulder. Almost at once another explosion bounced him several feet into the air and hot shards ripped into both thighs&nbsp;... as he lifted his arm to look at his watch a mortar shell exploded only feet away and blasted the watch from his wrist and tore a large jagged hole in his forearm: "I was beginning to know what it must be like to be crucified," he was later to say.{{sfn|Wright|2004|pp=30–31}}}}

The 25th Marines' 3rd Battalion had landed approximately 900 men on the island that morning. Japanese resistance at the Quarry was so fierce that by nightfall, only 150 Marines were left in fighting condition, an 83.3% casualty rate.{{sfn|Wright|2004|p=31}}

By the evening of 19 February, 30,000 Marines had landed. About 40,000 more would follow.<ref name=Allen/> Aboard the command ship ''[[USS Eldorado]]'', Smith saw the lengthy casualty reports and was briefed on the slow progress of the ground forces. To the war correspondents covering the operation, Smith remarked: "I don't know who he is, but the Japanese general running this show is one smart bastard."{{sfn|Wright|2004|p=33}}